The truth's out
by kath-lee15
Summary: Set toward the end of season 3,after the shooting. Brooke has had enough of Lucas shutting her out and askes him to figure out why. After some reflection, Lucas comes to a realization, he has been living in denial. Leyton.
1. Chapter 1

-Lucas laid on his bed thinking. In the last month he had lost two of the things that were most important to him, his uncle Keith and basketball. As much as he loved the sport, he just couldn't play anymore, he couldn't be selfish his mom had already been through enough. He thought about his uncle, it had all happened so fast, in one day everything had changed. The pain of losing Keith did not seem to get any lesser as time moved on, there was just this huge hole in his life now. He knew people were expecting more from him, he was suppose to talk about how he felt, but somehow he couldn't bring himself to. The worst part was, he felt horrible for hurting them, mostly Brooke. She had been by his side through all this, but he still couldn't bring himself to open up to her about this, something was stopping him and he couldn't figure out what, and he knew that it was hurting her, even if she wouldn't admit it.

-Precisely as this moment Brooke walked into his bedroom. "Hey boyfriend. I was thinking maybe we could go for a walk, it's a beautiful day outside."

-Lucas sighed, he didn't feel like going outside at all, he just wanted to stay in his room and ponder this huge mess his life had become. "Brooke, I don't know. I just want to be alone right now." He said doing his best not to hurt her feelings. Obviously it wasn't working because he could immediately see the pain in her eyes as he turned her down.

-"Fine, I'll leave you alone but know this Lucas. At some point you're going to have to let me in or this is never going to work. I'm trying to be supportive here, but I just don't know how long I can handle you shutting me out all the time. So why don't you do us a favour and figure out what's holding you back", she told him as she walked out of the room and close the door behind her.

-Lucas sighed, really things couldn't be any worse could they. He just kept messing things up, he was starting to think that it was in his genes. He sat there a couple more seconds before he realised that he should try to smooth things out with Brooke. He got up and went into his closet to grab his coat, and lucky as he was, he pulled too strongly and the box that was on the shelf fell down. He was about to just leave it and go find Brooke, when he saw the content of the box on the floor, it was his Peyton box.

-He sat on the floor and proceeded to put everything back in the box, the last thing he needed was for Brooke to come back and see all of this. She would ask questions that he wasn't sure he could answer them. He was about done when he realised that one item was missing. He looked around and finally spotted it, a transparent plastic bag with a piece of clothing inside. Lucas gently took it in his hands and looked at it. It was a piece of the shirt he was wearing that awful day, and it had blood on it, Peyton's blood. He thought back to this day, how he had finally convinced the hospital staff to let him keep the shirt, that is with the condition that Lucas wouldn't release it from the plastic bag it was in. He hadn't told anybody about that, he wanted to avoid questions.

-He hadn't really talked to Peyton much since that day, they both had a lot to deal with he guessed that could explain why, but inside him he knew it wasn't the real reason. They were both hiding, that was the reason, they were hidings from things that they couldn't control, mainly from what happened that day in the library.

-Lucas sat there contemplating that day and everything that had happened afterward when suddenly it hit him, he got his answer. He gently placed the plastic bag inside the box and darted out of his room, there was something he needed to do.

-As he sat behind the wheel in his car, he started to have doubts on what it meant and what he should do. "Haley, she'll know what to do." He told himself as he started the car and headed in the direction of Nathan and Haley's apartment.

-Lucas knocked persistently on the door, he really needed someone to advice him on all this. Finally the door opened and Lucas was face to face with Nathan.

-"Lucas, is everything okay?" His brother asked concern.

-"Yeah, I just, I need to talk to Hales. Is she here?" He asked nervously.

-"Yeah, want to come in, I'll go get her."

-"No, I just, I'm going to wait here." Lucas told Nathan.

-"Okay then." Nathan walked inside the apartment as Lucas sat on the step waiting for his best friend to enlightened him. Lucky for him, said best friend was sitting beside him within seconds.

-"Lucas, Nathan told me you wanted to talk." Haley started.

-"Yeah, I just need your advice on something."

-"Okay shoot", Haley told him.

-"I was just wondering, does it make me a bad person if a decide to do something that I think I need, but that will hurt someone I really care about?" Lucas asked Haley.

-"Lucas, why are you being so cryptic?" Haley had no idea what he was talking about.

-"Just answer me alright."

-"Hum, okay. I think that if you are not happy and that you think that you know what to do to change it. I think that you should do it. Not doing something you really want to do because you don't want people to get hurt usually end up with people getting hurt anyway. I think that if you are happy then people around you will eventually be happy too. Does this help?" Haley asked unsure. It was hard to advice him when he was giving her so little to go on.

-"Yeah, I think so. But doesn't that make me selfish?" He asked Haley.

-"Maybe, but I really think that there are times when you need to think about what is best for you, you need to put yourself first sometimes Luke." Haley tried to convince him.

-"I don't know. I don't want anybody to get hurt." He said sadly.

-"I know you don't Luke, but I also know that at the time you are the one who's hurt. If you think doing whatever it is you want to do will make you happy, then I think you should do it."

-"Okay, thanks for the advice. I'll think about it." He said as he got up and hugged Haley, he really needed to think about this, and the Rivercourt always had been his favourite place to think, which is why he really wanted to go there.

-He started toward his car and was about midway when Haley stopped him. "Hey Luke!" He turned around to look at her.

-"At some point you'll tell me what this is about right?"

-"Yeah sure. I just need to figure things out first." He told her as he walked to his car and got inside. He waved goodbye to Haley and headed to the Rivercourt.

-Lucas was laying down on the court looking at the sky, contemplating what to do. He stayed there for hours just thinking and then he finally took his decision. Haley was right, he needed to think about himself right now, he needed to follow his heart wherever it led him. He stood up and headed for his car, hoping that he was making the right decision.

-Lucas was at his house waiting for Brooke. He had called her right after he had gotten home telling her that he was finally ready to talk and asking her to stop by. He was nervously pacing in his room when she showed up, obviously still upset about their earlier encounter.

-"You wanted to talk?" She asked him with an even tone.

-"Yeah, but first of I want to apologize. I've been shutting you out lately and that was wrong, you deserve better." He said sincerely.

-"Yeah I do, so are you ready to finally let me in?" She asked him hopeful.

-"Yes, I am." He started.

-"Thank you."

-Lucas took a deep breath, he had officially reached the point of no return.

-"We can't be a couple anymore."


	2. Chapter 2

-"We can't be a couple anymore."

-Brooke looked up at her boyfriend confused. "What?"

-"I'm breaking up with you. I'm really sorry but I can't do this anymore." Lucas admitted sadly.

-Brooke was shocked. This had to be the last thing she expected him to tell her. There was no way he meant that.

-"Luke, I know you're hurting but please don't push me away." She pleaded with him.

-"Can't you see, that's where the whole problem is. Before, you asked me to figure out why I couldn't share my feelings with you, and I finally figured it out. I can't push you away Brooke because I've never really let you in, in the first place. You deserve to be with someone who's going to let you in all the way, and I can't be that person. I'm really sorry." He said truthfully.

-"Just because you haven't let me in doesn't mean we can't be together. All you have to do is decide to let me in. If you love me you should at least try, we could try."

-"I can't, we can't because the reason why I couldn't let you in, as much as I wanted to, is that…" He hesitated.

-"What?"

-"The reason why I can't let you into my heart is that…someone else's already in there. And as much as I've tried to deny it and pretend it wasn't true, it's not going away. I finally realised that today, I just can't lie to myself, or you for that matter, anymore."

-"I, I don't understand." Brooke stuttered as tears started to prickle in her eyes.

-"I love you, you're a great girl and I'm sorry for doing this to you, but I'm in love with someone else." Lucas clarified shaken up front seeing the pain in the girl's eyes.

-Brooke stood there as tears ran through her face, she could practically hear her heart breaking. She was torn apart between her desire to learn the whole truth and her instincts who were telling her to run the hell away from there. Finally the former won.

-"Who?" She asked through her tears. She had a good idea but she needed to hear him say it.

-"Brooke, I don't th", Lucas started but was interrupted by a now pissed of Brooke.

-"Say it Luke, I need to hear you say it." She screamed at him.

-Lucas was taken aback by her aggressivity, even though he figured he had it coming.

-He sighed, "Peyton", he said softly.

-She had been expecting it, but to hear him say her name, the name of her best friend officially broke her heart, if it wasn't already broken.

-"I can't believe this, I can't believe you're doing this AGAIN, she's my best friend for God's sake, well WAS my best friend." She said sadly. "I wish you guys a very happy life together." She added sarcastically before walking toward the door.

-"Brooke, don't take this out on Peyton okay. She has no idea about this. It's not her fault. She's your best friend, she loves you." He tried to convince her. The last thing he wanted was for Peyton to suffer because of his mistakes.

-"Well, I guess the question is, does she loves YOU?" Brooke smiled as she saw the expression of pure terror that grazed Lucas' face at her suggestion that she could tell Peyton. He took a step toward her, but stopped when he saw her take one back.

-"Look Brooke, I'm sorry I hurt you, I really am, but please don't go off on Peyton because of me. You have every right to hate me, I know that, but she really hasn't done anything wrong."

-Brooke walked away without answering him. She couldn't believe that Lucas had just broken up with her, and because he was still in love with Peyton at that. She started to regret ever giving him a second chance, all he'd done was break her heart all over again. She really felt stupid, how could she believe that he had changed, that he wouldn't hurt her again. She was in her car driving away when she realised that she had nowhere to go. She was about to go home, but she had just realised that home was Peyton's house, and she didn't know how she felt about the blonde yet. She wasn't ready to confront her either, so she turned the car around and headed in the other direction.

-Meanwhile, Lucas was pondering what had just happened in his room. He felt somewhat relieved that he had finally been honest with Brooke and with himself, but he felt bad for hurting her again. He knew she would probably never forgive him for that, but he couldn't live in denial anymore, it wasn't helping anybody. Then he thought about Peyton, he really didn't want her to lose her best friend because of him, but at the same time, he knew that now that the truth was out, he couldn't back down. He needed to tell her everything before she learned about it from Brooke. He seriously doubted that the brunette would do him any favour and abstain from telling Peyton about his felling for her. He really needed to tell her before Brooke did. He grabbed his coat and once again headed for his car.

-Brooke walked out of her car and knocked on Haley and Nathan's door hoping that they'd be there, she really needed a place to stay and they were her last chance. She released the breath she didn't know she had been holding when the door opened and she saw Haley on the other side.

-"Can I stay here for a while?" Brooke asked bluntly before Haley could even say a word. "I need a place to stay, I just can't go to Peyton's right now." She told her other best friend.

-Seeing that Brooke really looked upset, Haley nodded and let her in. "Sure, you're welcome to sleep on the couch for as long as you need." They walked into the apartment and sat on the couch. "What happened Brooke?"

-Brooke nervously looked toward Nathan who was in the kitchen looking at them. He got the message. "Hum, I'm going to leave you guys to talk, I'll be at the Rivercourt, I'll be back later." He kissed Haley and walked outside the door.

-"So, what happened? Why can't you go back to Peyton's?" Haley asked curious.

-Brooke did her best to refrain the tears that started to form at the thought of what had just happened. "Lucas broke up with me." She said as she started to cry, no longer being able to keep the tears in.

-"What?" Haley asked. To say that she was surprised was an understatement. All that Lucas had been talking about in the last few months was how much he was in love with Brooke. And now he had broken up with her, that didn't make any sense. "Why?" She inquired.

-"Apparently, he just realised that he's not in love with me, and never was. He's in love with my best friend." Brooke spat angrily. This whole thing was really pissing her off.

-Haley almost choked on the water she had been drinking. "WHAT, Peyton?" She asked incredulous.

-"Yup, apparently he couldn't lie to himself anymore. Can you believe that."

-Haley thought about what Brooke had just told her and suddenly it hit her. This was what Lucas had been talking to her about before. Breaking up with Brooke to be with Peyton. She couldn't believe that it was happening again, moreso she felt guilty. She was the one who had advised Lucas to do something for himself no matter if other people ended up getting hurt because of it. She had no idea what to say so she opted for holding Brooke as the other girl cried and screamed her pain.

-In the meantime, Lucas was nervously pacing Peyton's front yard trying to gather the courage to go in and confess his feelings. He was scared to death of her reaction, he didn't think he could handle losing her, not after everything they had been though. On the other hand, he thought, maybe she feels the same way. She did kiss him that day, sure, she thought she was going to die, and she had profusely denied any romantic intentions behind the kiss afterward, but maybe, maybe, she had been in denial too. He hoped that the revelation of his feelings would make her realise that she loved him too, at least that is what he hoped as he nervously made his way into her house and up the stairs to her room.

-Lucas stood in her doorway looking at her, she was so engrossed in the music she was listening to that she hadn't notice him. He smiled as he saw her sing along and bobbing her head to the beat As the song ended, Lucas took the opportunity to announce his presence before another song started.

-"I love that song."

-Peyton jumped when she heard him, obviously she had no idea he had been watching her. As soon as the surprise of his presence wore off, it was replaced by a blush as she realised he had been watching her.

-"Hum, yeah, me too. What are you doing here Luke?" She asked changing the subject. The two of them hadn't hung out in a while and she was curious to find out why he was standing in front of her now.

-"I need to tell you something." He started nervously.

-"Hum, okay. What is it?" She asked as she sat back on her bed after turning off her music so that they could talk.

-Lucas took a deep breath. "Here we go." He thought


	3. Chapter 3

-"I broke up with Brooke." Lucas figured that the best way was probably to tell her the whole truth. Obviously Peyton wasn't expecting this.

-"What? Why?" She asked concern.

-"You remember the night of the party at the school, after the shooting. You told me that Brooke had given me her heart and that I needed to give mine back. Well, today Brooke got tired of me shutting her out and she told me to figure out why I couldn't let her in, and well, I did." Lucas admitted nervously.

-Seeing that Peyton wasn't going to ask why, he figured he might as well go and tell her anyway.

-Lucas took a deep breath, that was it. "I did some soul searching and I realised that I've been living a lie. I've been in denial and I don't want to be that way anymore. So here it goes." He breathed deeply again to give himself some courage. "Today, I realised that the reason why I couldn't let Brooke in, the reason why I couldn't give my heart to her completely, is because somebody else's already in there. And that person, it's you, Peyton. As much as I've tried to convince myself and everybody else around me that I didn't have feelings for you anymore. The truth is that I do, I always have." He looked up at her trying to see how she felt about that.

-Peyton froze, there was no way she had heard him right, he couldn't mean what she thought he meant. "Lucas, I, I don't understand." She stammered.

-"What I mean is that I love you Peyton, I'm in love with you. This is why I broke up with Brooke." Lucas clarified. Once again he looked at her, she looked completely shocked, obviously she hadn't expected his confession. She just stood there her mouth agape, staring at him dumbfounded.

-Seeing her expression made Lucas nervous, he did not know what he had been expecting but it certainly wasn't the expression that he was now seeing on her face. He realised that he needed to do some damage control.

-"Look, I know that this is probably a lot to take in, but please just hear me out." He asked her apprehensively. The only response he got from Peyton was a nod, which he assumed meant she wanted to hear what he had to say, he took that as a good sign. At least she hadn't thrown him out.

-"Earlier, when Brooke got upset with me, things happened and I thought back to what had happened that day, you know the day of the shooting. I haven't really giving it much thought afterward because of what had happened to Keith." He paused, it was still really hard for him to speak about that day and losing his uncle, but he knew he needed to, he needed to tell her.

-"What I mean is that I was sitting in my room going over what had happened that day, when suddenly it all became clear to me, the reason why I went back in there. I remember getting out of the bus and seeing Brooke running toward me really upset. She told me that there were gunshots. At first I was relived that she was okay, but then, then she told me something that changed everything. She told me that you were still inside, that you could have been shot. At that moment, it was like the world around me just froze. All I could think about was the fact that you were in there alone, scared, and maybe even hurt, and that terrified me. All I could think about afterward was that I needed to find you, this is why I went back inside, because, in that moment nothing else mattered but making sure that you were alright." Lucas admitted, he paused before speaking again.

-"I kept telling myself that I went back because I'm a good friend and that I would have done it for any other of my friends, but truth is I don't know. As much as I was worried about knowing that Haley was still inside as well, I didn't feel the urge to get to her like I felt with you. Thinking back to that day, I realised that if Brooke had been the one I loved, then the only thing that should have mattered to me was that she was alright, that she was safe, but it wasn't. In fact, from the moment she told me about you to the moment when the doctor told me that you were going to be alright, all I could think about was you. I was terrified that I was going to lose you, and that was all I could think about." He paused again before continuing.

-"Afterward, it was just too hard for me to think about that day, because of what had happened to Keith, so I just pushed everything to the back of my mind and convinced myself that you were just a friend and that Brooke was the one that I loved. I mean, i've been telling myself that for so long, it wasn't too hard for me to forget how terrified I felt to the idea of losing you, and focus on Brooke. But I can't do this anymore, it wasn't fair to her, and it's not fair to me. I don't want to be scared of what we could be anymore, life's too short. I want to be with you, I need to be with you." Lucas finished nervously.

-He looked at Peyton once more, she had tears in her eyes and still looked shell shocked. He realised that him hoping she would jump in his arms and kiss him might have been a little unrealistic. He realised that maybe she needed some time to assimilate everything, so he just stood there in silence giving her time.

-It was torture, Lucas had been standing in front of her for over ten minutes now and she still hadn't said anything or given him any indications of what was going through her head after hearing his confession. He couldn't take it anymore.

-"Peyton, look I know this is a lot to take in, but I need to know. Do you feel the same way?" He asked her nervously, dreading her answer.

-She snapped out of her thoughts, to look back at Lucas. Truth is, she had no idea, she was still trying to grasp the idea that he had broken up with Brooke because he was in love with her. She was no where near figuring out how she felt about the whole thing.

-"Hum, I don't know." She admitted truthfully. She saw Lucas face fall and felt bad, so she corrected herself. "I think I need some time, you know to sort through everything."

-Lucas sighed, it wasn't what he wanted, but at least she wasn't shutting him down. "Okay, I can give you that." He started to walk out of the room but stopped and turned around to face her once more. "I know that I hurt you before, and I know that this puts you in a difficult situation with Brooke and I'm really sorry for that. I wish that I had figured out where my heart truly lied before but I can't change the past. All I can do is hope that you give me a chance to show you how great we could be together, how much you truly mean to me. I love you Peyt, and I'm not pretending otherwise anymore." He walked back to her and gently took her face in his hands. He laid a kiss on her forehead and walked out the door without another word.

-Peyton remained frozen staring at the door Lucas had just left through. She slowly raised her hand and gently touched the spot on her forehead where Lucas had kissed her. She felt like she could still feel his lips there. She slowly walked back and let herself fall on her bed, going through everything that had just happened. Lucas was in love with her, she kept saying in her head, over and over again.

-Until this morning, if one would have asked her if she loved Lucas, she would most probably have answered in the negative, but now after hearing everything he had just told her, she wasn't sure how she felt anymore. If he had been living in denial, maybe she had too, she did kiss him and told him that she loved him that day, maybe her subconscious had been trying to tell her something. She closed her eyes and sighed, she needed to figure it out.

-Meanwhile, Lucas was sitting in his car in front of her house contemplating what had just happened. He couldn't go back anymore, and as nervous as he felt about finding out if Peyton wanted to be with him as well, he didn't want to. He knew that finally being honest about everything was something that he needed, he couldn't keep living in denial anymore. He realised that maybe Peyton would be upset to see him hanging out in front of her house, so he started the car and drove back to his house.

-Once at his place, he went to his room and laid on his bed trying to think of anything to keep his mind from the fact that at this exact same time Peyton was trying to decide if she wanted to be with him or not. He had hoped that she would have given him an answer right away, so he was a little hurt that she had told him she needed time, but he understood that she had been surprised and he figured that after everything he had put her through before, plus the fact that she had Brooke to consider, it might take her a while to come to a decision, he just hoped that she would give them a chance.

-Nathan walked back in the apartment to find Haley in the kitchen and a clearly distraught Brooke sleeping on the couch. Seeing Nathan look at Brooke concerned, Haley spoke.

-"She cried herself to sleep. I told her that she could stay here for as long as she needed."

-"What happened? Why isn't she staying with Peyton anymore?" Nathan asked sitting in front of Haley.

-"Lucas broke up with her."

-"Why?" Nathan asked surprised.

-"He realised that Peyton's the one he really is in love with." Haley added with an angry tone.

-"Finally", Nathan exclaimed happily.

-"What?" Haley was shocked.

-"Oh come on!" He said loudly then realising that Brooke was sleeping close by whispered to Haley.

-"Can you really tell me that you hadn't noticed? I've known since the first time I saw him looking at her last year, back when I was still dating her. It pissed me off back then because I could see this connection that they had, and I can still see it today. Lucas' always been in love with her. I don't know why he started denying it in the first place, or why he ever thought that Brooke was the one he loved. In fact, I'm kind of surprised that Brooke didn't figure it out earlier. He's different when Peyton's around, no matter who's with them it's like she's the only one in the room. If you need another proof, here it is, I was there the day of the shooting when he learned that she was still inside, the terror I felt at the thought of losing you, I saw in his eyes at that moment. I think it's time he finally got his head out of his ass and realised that." Nathan finished.

-"What about Brooke though, why is she the one who has to suffer because Lucas can't make up his mind?"

-"I think that even though she's hurting now, in the end it's probably better this way. At least now she knows where she stands with Lucas, she can move on and be with a guy who truly will love her more than anything, like I love you." Nathan said sweetly as he took Haley's hand.

-"Yeah maybe, but I'm still going to give him a piece of my mind. Can you keep an eye on her, I'll be right back." She said pointing to Brooke.

-"Of course, but please go easy on him. I think he did the right thing." Nathan tried to convince Haley.

-"We'll see. I'll be right back." She kissed him goodbye and walked out the door and in the direction of Lucas' house.


	4. Chapter 4

-Lucas had been laying on his bed thinking for about an hour when he heard a persistent knock at the door, he jumped up and practically ran to the door thinking that it was Peyton, and couldn't help but look disappointed when he realised that it was Haley.

-Seeing her angry expression he assumed that she knew about what had happened and apparently, he was right.

-"What the hell is wrong with you, can't you make up your mind once and for all and figure out what the hell it is you want?" She yelled in his direction as she moved passed him and into his bedroom.

-"You talked to Brooke I assume." Lucas asked her calmly. He really didn't want to do this right now, but looking at Haley he guessed he did not really have a choice in the matter.

-"Yeah, and next time you want to screw with one of my best friend's heart, why don't you give me a heads up so I don't actually feel bad for giving you advices that end up getting people I love hurt." She screamed at him.

-"I'm sorry for not telling you everything when I asked for your help before, but I knew that you wouldn't actually be objective if I told you what it was about." He tried to explain to her.

-"I can't believe you're doing this again Luke, Brooke she trusted you and you broke her heart again." She emphasised the fact that he had once again screwed up and it was pissing him off, he did not need that, not from her.

-"Can we just do this another time, I don't really want to do this right now. Maybe you could yell at me another time." He was getting increasingly irritated, he already had enough on his plate, he didn't need this right now.

-"Oh no we can't. You made a decision and now you have to live with the consequences. Do you have any idea of what you just did to Brooke?" Haley pushed.

-"Yeah I do, and I'm really sorry for hurting her I am, but I wasn't happy Haley. After all that happened lately, I took a decision to try to do everything to be happy again. My uncle's dead Hales, and now I can't even play basketball anymore. The hits keep on coming and I don't know what to do anymore. I don't see the point of living in denial if even that doesn't make me happy. I couldn't do it anymore, I thought you'd understand that." He finished with a sad expression.

-"Lucas", Haley started but he interrupted her.

-"Look, I really can't do this right now. I'm really sorry for hurting Brooke but this is none of your business."

-"Oh yes it is. I'm the one who's held her as she cried this afternoon. I'm the one who told her everything was going to be okay , and I'm the one who feels guilty for encouraging you to do it in the first place. This is my business." Haley told him sternly.

-"What the hell do you want me to tell you? It's done, I can't change it, and you know what? I don't want to. What do you want to hear Hales, because I don't know what to tell you. " He was getting frustrated with her.

-"I don't know. I want to see an indication that you know what you've just done, that you know the pain you caused, that you feel guilty about it, anything." She on the other hand was getting exasperated by Lucas' lack of reaction.

-"I know exactly what I've just done. If I hadn't, it was made perfectly clear to me when I looked up and saw Peyton's expression after I had just told her that I'm in love with her." Lucas admitted looking away from Haley as he once again saw Peyton's dazed expression in his mind.

-"Oh, so you told Peyton?" Haley asked surprised, she didn't think Lucas would have come clean to Peyton that fast. Maybe she had been wrong, maybe Lucas was sure this time, possibly Nathan had it right.

-"Yeah I did" He confirmed looking back at Haley.

-"How did it go?" She asked. She saw his expression turn to a mix of apprehension and sadness.

-"I don't know. She told me she needed time." All the previous frustration he had felt toward Haley before was gone, all he felt was desperation at the thought that the longer it took Peyton to think things through the less likely it was that the outcome would be good for him.

-Seeing Lucas so sad made Haley realised that maybe Brooke wasn't the only one suffering right now. Lucas needed her too.

-"At least she did not reject you. She didn't tell you she didn't feel the same" She tried to reassure him.

-"She didn't tell me that she did either." Lucas admitted sadly. "You should have seen her face Hales, it looked like she had just seen a ghost. I don't think that this is a good sign."

-Seeing the distress in her best friend made her realise that Nathan was right, there was only one person that could get to him like that and that was Peyton. She only hoped that the girl would realize that before it was too late. She didn't think Lucas would handle another deception too well.

-"Give it time Luke. It must have been a pretty big surprise for her, I don't think she had seen it coming. You had to do some soul searching yourself to figure it out, she probably does too." She reassured him, or at least tried to, it did not look like it was working.

-"What if she doesn't feel the same way Hales? What if I just screwed everything for her and she really doesn't love me? I can't lose her Hales." He was getting worked up again.

-Lucas turned his back to her and laid on his bed with his face buried in the pillow, clearly indicating that he was done talking for now.

-"Lucas, I need to go check up on Brooke, but I'll be back alright. In the meantime, have faith okay." With that she walked out of his room and went back home.

-When she got home, Haley was surprised to see that the couch was empty and that she didn't seem to see Brooke anywhere. She found Nathan in the bedroom.

-"Where's Brooke?" She asked him.

-"She went back to Peyton's to get some of her things. She should be back soon." He said without going back to the paper he was working on.

-"I don't think so", Haley mumbled under her breath, but Nathan heard her.

-"What do you mean?" He asked intrigued.

-"Peyton knows, I talked to Lucas and he told me that he had told Peyton everything. I'm pretty sure there is no way that the subject is not going to come up." She enlightened him.

-"So he finally told her, how did it go?" He asked then saw Haley purse her lips. "That well hein?"

-"Apparently it was quite a shock, but at least she did not completely shut him down, she told him that she needed time." She confirmed.

-"There is no way she doesn't have feelings for him." Nathan affirmed convinced.

-"We'll find out soon enough I guess." Haley said as she sat down on the bed beside Nathan.

-"So, I guess we're in for a lot more crying when Brooke comes back." Nathan realised.

-"Yup, it's going to be a long night."

-Peyton was still laying on her bed looking at the ceiling, she hadn't moved an inch since Lucas had left her room a couple hours ago, but she was still as lost as she was then on what the hell it was she felt for the boy. She kept hearing him in her head telling her that he loved her, that he'd broke up with Brooke to be with her. For her, even to repeat it over and over again, didn't make the whole thing more believable. She couldn't understand how things could change that fast. Her and Lucas had spend the whole summer together, but not once had he made a move on her or given her any indication that his feelings were more than platonic, and now all of a sudden he was in love with her. She couldn't understand how that had happened.

-She was torn out of her thoughts by the sound of someone going up the stairs, she turned on her side to see who was the intruder, hoping that it wasn't Lucas, she still didn't know what to tell him. Her heart stopped for a second when her eyes met Brooke's teary ones.

-Brooke went up the stairs to Peyton's room. She kept praying that Peyton would be absent or at least that she would be clueless as to why Brooke was so upset. She figured Peyton had no reason to already know and this gave her a little hope that maybe things were going to go better than she thought. Maybe she could just walk in, take her stuff and give Peyton some excuse as to why she wanted to move out of her room, Peyton would believe her and Brooke could walk out and try to avoid all of it for a little longer. She knew she had thought wrong when she walked into her best friend's room and saw the blonde laying on her bed with a surprised look on her face and tear stained eyes. At that moment she knew.

-"You know." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

-Peyton got up and stood awkwardly in front of Brooke. She had no idea how to act around Brooke. She had been thinking about all of this for hours and not once had she thought about what to do about Brooke. All of a sudden, Peyton felt guilt wash over her as she took in the state her best friend was in. Brooke looked as bad as she felt.

-"Yeah", Peyton didn't know what the hell she was suppose to say so she went with the truth.

-"Okay, hum that's awkward. I was just going to take a couple of things, I'm going to stay at Haley and Nathan's for a while." Brooke said as she walked toward the closet and started gathering a few things. She knew they probably needed to talk, but she didn't know if she could do that right now.

-"Brooke I," Peyton stopped, at lost of things to say to her distraught best friend.

-"That's just my luck. I hoped that I could walk in here and you wouldn't know what was going on, and that I could have just packed a few things and walk out, but I guess God really does has a sense of humour." Brooke said sarcastically.

-"Brooke", Peyton tried again.

-"Okay fine, you want to do this, let's do this. I can't be here right now because it hurts too much to be around you knowing that the guy I love, is in love with you. Okay Peyton, I just can't." Brooke said tears once again starting to form in her eyes.

-Peyton was shocked, she didn't know why but she had assumed that Lucas hadn't told Brooke that the reason he was breaking up with her was because he was in love with Peyton. She thought that he would have kept that little detail to himself, but obviously Lucas had chosen that day to follow the honesty is the best policy motto. She had felt guilty looking at Brooke before, but it was nothing compared to the way she felt now. She couldn't even look at Brooke.

-"I'm sorry." Peyton knew it was corny, but she had no idea what to say.

-"Why couldn't you just stay away Peyt? Things were fine with me and Lucas, why couldn't you just let us be?" Brooke screamed to the blonde.

-"What?" Peyton sure as hell hadn't seen that one coming. "How the hell is that my fault?" She knew how bad Brooke must be hurting but there was no way she was just going to stand back and take the blame for everything.

-"You made him fall in love with you, that's how." Brooke screamed back.

-"I didn't do nothing. I've stayed as far away from your relationship as I could, this is not my fault." Peyton shouted at her best friend.

-"Keep telling yourself that." Brooke shot back as she closed her bag and threw it over her shoulder. She walked past Peyton.

-"I wish you guys all the happiness in the world". She said sarcastically before walking out the door.

-Peyton stared at the now vacant doorway incredulous. "How can that be my fault?."


	5. Chapter 5

-Lucas walked aimlessly along the school hallways, It had been two days already since he had told Peyton the way he feels and she still hadn't giving him an answer as to how she felt about him. In fact, she had been pretty adamant about avoiding him, she hadn't set foot in school, or anywhere in town where they were likely to run into one another. Lucas was getting desperate, this was the last thing that he had wanted, to loose Peyton as a friend because of his feelings for her. He was ripped out of his thoughts by Nathan who grabbed him by the arm.

-"Hey man. What's up?" His brother asked him.

-"Nothing"

-"Look man, I know it's probably not the best time for you right now, but you've got to get past it." Nathan tried to convince him.

-Lucas shot him a look before continuing walking in the other direction. Nathan caught up with him.

-"Luke, come on. I'm tired of seeing you like this."

-"Then don't look."

-"Luke"

-"I got to go." Lucas said before walking in the direction of the door.

-"School's not out yet." Nathan said to his back.

-"Don't care", was the only answer he got from his brother. Nathan was about to go after him again but was stopped by Haley who had just walked in the hallway.

-"Hey, how is he?" She asked seeing Lucas walking out the door.

-"Apparently not good."

-"Well it must be hard with Brooke giving him a hard time and Peyton rejecting him, on top of what he's been dealing with lately." Haley explained.

-"Peyton did not reject him." Nathan intervened.

-"I don't know which movie you've been watching, but her avoiding him like the plague doesn't seem to me like a sign of affection." Haley countered.

-"Doesn't mean she's not into him."

-"Nathan what's up with you. Why do you care so much?" Haley asked him.

-"Because I know they belong together. I figure it's time they see it too. You know what I'm going to take care of this." He told her as he started walking away.

-"Hey, what are you going to do?" She asked his retreating figure.

-"Fix this whole mess." He told her before walking out the door.

-Nathan walked into Peyton's house. It wasn't much of a surprise for him to hear music blasting through the house. This was how Peyton dealt with things. He walked up the stairs to find Peyton sitting at her desk drawing.

-He put his hand on her shoulder to alert her of his presence. Peyton jumped a little because of the surprise.

-"Nathan, you scared me."

-"Well you would have heard me coming if the music wasn't so loud." Nathan smirked.

-"What do you want Nate?" Peyton asked and looking at her Nathan could see that she did not look much better than Lucas did. She apparently had not slept much lately because she looked tired.

-"I'm here to tell you to get over whatever the hell it is that's stopping you from being with Lucas." He didn't feel like beating around the bush.

-He saw her instantly put her walls up. "It's none of your business Nathan."

-"Maybe not, but I'm only here to help. You guys deserve the chance to be together."

-"Why?" She asked him timidly.

-"Why what?" Nathan was confused.

-"Why do you think Lucas and I should be together?" she asked without looking at him.

-Nathan considered this for a few seconds. "Because he loves you, and you love him. I think you guys have waited long enough."

-"How do you know?"

-Nathan looked up at her. Peyton really did look confused about this whole thing.

-"Peyton come on. It's so easy to see the way you guys feel about each other. Don't deny it okay."

-"What if it's not worth it?" She asked looking at what she had been drawing.

-Nathan looked over her shoulder to see that the drawing Peyton had been working on was a picture of her and Brooke laughing together.

-"I think that eventually she'll get over it. I mean she probably has seen it coming like we all have. Sure she's angry right now and she'll probably be angry for a awhile but don't you think that you've sacrificed enough for her friendship. At some point you have to do what makes you happy and hope for the best."

-He could see her pondering that thought.

-"Look, in the end the only thing that really matter is whether or not being with Lucas would make you happy and we both know the answer to that." He gave her a smile. "Don't take too long okay. The guy's miserable." He said before he started to leave her room.

-"Hum Nathan." He stopped to look back at her. "Thanks". He smiled back at her and exited the room hoping that Peyton would stop worrying about everybody else and think about herself for once.

-Nathan walked into the apartment to find a very familiar picture; Brooke ranting about Peyton and Lucas and how much she hated them to Haley.

-"Hey", he told them hoping that he could pass through without having to take part in Brooke's anger rant.

-"Hey, how did it go?" Haley asked him. Nathan shot her a look. There was no way she thought he was actually going to talk about this in front of Brooke did she.

-"Hum fine." He simply said as he kept walking, but it was too late Brooke had realised that she was missing something.

-"What went fine?" she asked the couple.

-"Nothing. I'm going to go change." He told Haley before leaving the room.

-"What's going on?" she asked again suspiciously.

-"Nothing. Nathan just went to check on Peyton." Haley prepared herself for the onslaught.

-"What? Why?" Brooke looked angry.

-"What do you mean why? She's our friend. It's not easy for her either." Haley tried to explain to Brooke but it was useless.

-"Oh yeah I forgot it sucks to be her." Brooke said sarcastically.

-"Brooke", Haley warned.

-"What? She brought this onto herself." Brooke defended herself.

-"Brooke", Haley warned her again.

-"What? It's not my fault. I'm the victim here remember."

-"Oh yeah we remember. You've emphasized this point quite a few time already." Nathan told her as he walked back into the room.

-Haley, realising that another argument was about to start between the two decided to intervene.

-"Hum Nathan. We were about to order some food for dinner want any?"

-Nathan looked between the two girls. He saw that Haley really didn't want him to start another argument with Brooke so he decided that arguing with Brooke could wait.

-"Yeah sure".

-Meanwhile, at the Rivercourt Lucas had tried shooting around to keep him mind from think about Peyton but he hadn't been very successful, so he had ended up lying down on the court looking at the shy. It was pretty much a reflection of his state of mind, dark and cloudy.

-Lucas knew that maybe he was exaggerating and that Peyton hadn't really rejected him directly yet, but he couldn't help it he felt rejected. The worst part was that it was the second time he got rejected by Peyton and it still hurt just as much. He knew that his friends were only trying to help, but they did not understand. He felt like he couldn't catch a break. For once he thought maybe things were going to be okay. That him and Peyton would finally be happy together but maybe he was too late, he had screwed things up too badly to be able to fix it. He was thrown out of his self-pity by someone calling his name, he could have recognized that voice everywhere. He sat up and was faced by the blonde girl that had been plaguing his thoughts.

-"Peyton", he said in shock.

-"Hey"


	6. Chapter 6

-Lucas looked up from his spot on the asphalt of the court to find Peyton looking at him intently. After a few seconds he realised that she probably expected him to say something.

-"Peyton", he said still surprised by her presence. "I thought you were avoiding me." He couldn't help it, he was angry at her for avoiding him.

-"Hum, I'm sorry, I'm…" She was obviously taken aback by his anger.

-"No I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. It wasn't fair." He apologized.

-"I'm sorry too. It's just, I really wasn't expecting it, you know, your confession." Peyton finished looking at her feet.

-"I know." He didn't know what else to say, she was right. He had sprang this huge news on her without any warning. It was normal, that it had taken her by surprise.

-"But I still shouldn't have been avoiding you. I just, I'm scared Luke." She admitted.

-Lucas got up to stand in front of her. "Of what?" He asked her.

-"What?" she was confused.

-"What are you scared of?" He clarified.

-Peyton hesitated for a while, Lucas could see that she looked scared.

-"Of this, us". She started, when she realised that he was confused she elaborated.

-"I thought, I was sure that you and I, what had happened between us, that it was dead and buried. We both screwed up so badly before that I just assumed that even though there would always be this thing between us, that we would never get another chance, so I kind of just stopped thinking about it, pushed it to the back of my mind."

-She took a deep breath before continuing. "and now, now all of a sudden you tell me that you have feelings for me, and it just makes me consider that maybe, maybe it could happen." She finished.

-"And that scares you?" He questioned.

-"Of course it scares me Luke. And this is why you can't do that. You can't make me believe that maybe we could finally get our chance. It's not fair." She had tears in her eyes.

-"Peyton", Lucas was taken aback.

-"I can't let you do that." She argued.

-"Do what?" He asked her. He was confused as to what was holding her back. What had her so terrified.

-"Break my heart." She confirmed his worst fears with that simple affirmation. But sadly enough for Lucas she wasn't done.

-"You can't do that. You can't make me believe that maybe we could be together, to change your mind later and leave me with a broken heart. You broke my heart once Lucas, I can't let you do it again." The tears were now flowing freely from her eyes.

-"I'm sorry", she choked on her tears before starting to walk away from Lucas.

-Lucas stood there in shock watching her walk away. He couldn't believe it. He knew he had hurt Peyton before, but he never knew that he had hurt her to the point that she would be scared that he would hurt her again. He didn't know what to do, he knew that the right thing to do would have been to just let Peyton be, but he couldn't bare the thought that he had caused her so much pain, he needed to make things right. He started running and caught up with Peyton.

-"Peyton please." He pleaded with her as he stood between her and her car.

-"Lucas, I can't."

-"Peyton, I'm sorry okay. I didn't know that I had hurt you so badly before. But you have to believe me, my feelings for you are real. You know what you said about assuming that we would never get another chance at this. I guess I thought the same thing and this is why I started to pretend that there was nothing more than friendship between us, when we both know that it wasn't true. But you know what I realised, I realised that we can't live in denial forever. The second I started to dig back, the feelings that I had been burying for so long, they just came rushing back, and you know what, I don't want to bury them anymore. I know that you have no reason to trust me, but I'm still asking you to please give me a chance. Give us a chance Peyton, please."

-"Luke, this is so much more complicated than that, there is so much more at stake."

-"I'm not going to hurt you again, I swear." He stepped closer to her and felt a pang of pain when she took a step back.

-"And what if I believe you Luke, there is no guarantee that you won't change your mind again."

-"There never is any guarantee with love Peyt, the truth is that we both could get hurt again, but I for one, think that this is worth the risk, you are worth the risk." He once again tried to approach her and smiled when she did not step back.

-"Luke", Peyton was at a loss of words. How could he do that. She had come here determined to turn him down and here he was making her question it all over again.

-"Look the only thing that really matters is how you feel. Do you have feelings for me?" He asked her as he once again took a step closer to her. He was now close enough to be able to touch her and the proximity clearly seemed to throw Peyton, which encouraged Lucas.

-"Lucas, please." Peyton begged him to leave it alone, but Lucas had other ideas.

-He raised his hand and caressed Peyton's cheek, therefore forcing her to make eye contact with him.

-"Peyton, tell me you don't have feelings for me." He asked her as he slowly brought his face closer to hers.

-Peyton couldn't move. She saw Lucas coming closer and closer to her, with his hand on her face. She kept telling herself that she needed to step back, but somehow she was paralysed, all she could do was watched as his lips came toward hers. He was mere centimetres away when he spoke again.

-"Tell me Peyton", he murmured.

-"I, I don't…", she stammered. With Lucas this close she felt like she couldn't form a single coherent thought.

-Lucas saw the effect he was having on Peyton and decided to call her bluff. He slowly pressed his lips to hers. For a few seconds she remained frozen which made Lucas consider that maybe she did not feel anything for him, but after what for him felt like forever, she kissed him back.

-His lips on her, the feeling was so intoxicating that she froze for a brief moment and then all of a sudden, all of those memories of the two of them came back to her, she remembered how good Lucas used to make her feel, and she just gave into that feeling. She kissed him back.

-Lucas roughly brought her against him and warped his arms around her as she warped hers around his neck. It felt so good to have her back in his arms, he couldn't get enough. He deepened the kiss and proceeded to massage her tongue with his. The kiss was rough and full of desire and left the two of them breathless. When they pulled back for air, Peyton looked up at him with a dazed expression on her face.

-"Tell me you did not feel that. Tell me you don't have feelings for me." He asked her with his arms still warped around her.

-"I, I can't" She finally admitted without making eye-contact with him.

-"Because you do, you do have feelings for me." He affirmed, pushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

-Peyton was silent for the longest time. Lucas thought that she was purposely ignoring him, that is until he heard her speak. "I do." She finally confirmed. He couldn't believe it, after two days, finally things were turning out the way he had hoped.

-"But it doesn't change anything. We can't be together Luke." And once again he was back at square one, trying to convince Peyton to give them a chance.

-"Peyt"

-"There is so much more that comes into this Luke. It's not only about you and me."

-It all came clear to Lucas now. "Brooke"

-"I can't hurt her like that Luke, not again. No matter how I feel." She confirmed.

-Lucas took comfort in the fact that she still had not removed herself from his grasp, and it gave him the courage to try to convince her that it was worth it.

-"Look Peyton, I'm sorry that Brooke's the one that's getting hurt in all of this, really I am, but we haven't done anything wrong, not this time. Brooke's hurting, and as sad as this is, it doesn't mean that we need to be hurting too. I think that we deserve a shot, and that eventually Brooke is going to get over it. Take a risk on us Peyt, please. I promise you that I'm going to do everything I can to fix things between you and Brooke, just take a risk, give us a chance." He pleaded with her as he once again caressed her cheek with his thumb.

-Once again, Peyton was silent for a long time as Lucas kept caressing her cheek with his thumb.

-She kept going over it in her mind, whether or not what she felt for Lucas was worth risking her friendship with Brooke over. Suddenly she made a choice, she kissed him and he kissed her back eagerly.

-This kiss was different. Whereas the first one was full of passion and pant out desire, this one was sweet and filled with love. When they pulled back, Lucas looked down at her questionably.

-"What, what was that?" He stammered. Peyton smiled, this role reversal was a nice change of pace.

-"That was me taking a risk." She smiled at him again.

-"You mean that you…"

-"I want to be with you." She confirmed before once again claiming his lips.


	7. Chapter 7

-The next morning, Lucas couldn't stop smiling. He had barely slept last night, him and Peyton had stayed at the Rivercourt pretty late mostly making out, but also talking. They were finally both on the same page and for Lucas it felt great, he hadn't been this happy in a long time and he couldn't wait to see Peyton, which is why he was now ready more than two hour early for school.

-He walked aimlessly around the house and it was starting to annoy his mother.

-"Lucas, please could you settle down for a minute. You're making me dizzy."

-"Fine", Lucas complained as he sat at the table facing his mother. His mom immediately noticed her son's increasing interest in the clock.

-"Is there somewhere you need to be?" She asked him curious in her son's sudden change in behaviour.

-"No, just school."

-"Mind telling me what has you so exited about going to school, I haven't seen you in such a good mood in a long time."

-"Oh nothing." Lucas started, and then saw his mother's expression at him shutting her out, he didn't want to hurt her anymore.

-"I'm thrilled about seeing Peyton", he opened up to his mom, and at her surprised expression he figured that she hadn't seen it coming.

-"Peyton? But didn't you break up with Brooke only three days ago?" Karen was perplexed, she knew that her son hadn't been dealing too well with Keith's death, and still felt guilty about leaving him to deal with it all by himself for so long, but through all of this she felt that if there was only one thing Lucas was sure of, it was his feelings for Brooke.

-"Yeah I know, but I'm with Peyton now." He smiled.

-"Look Lucas, I know the last few weeks have been very hard on you, but I don't think that using…" she didn't get to finish her sentence, Lucas interrupted her.

-"Wait. You think I'm using Peyton to get over Keith's death." He was furious, he couldn't believe that his own mom would think he was capable of something like that.

-"Luke, don't react like that okay. I'm just confused, for so long all you've talk about is how much you wanted to be with Brooke and how she was the one for you and now all of a sudden you break up with her and get together with Peyton I mean…" she tried to explain her concerns but obviously Lucas was having none of it.

-"You know what mom? Forget it. I thought you knew me better than that." He said before slamming the door on his way out.

-Lucas drove around in his car, not knowing where to go, it was too early to go to school or anywhere else for that matter, so he just drove around trying to clear his head.

-Peyton was in her room getting ready for school and honestly she couldn't be more nervous. Her and Lucas had talked yesterday and they were together and she was thrilled about it, but at the same time she was nervous about facing the people at school, mostly Brooke.

-She had spent most of the night trying to figure out what to say to her best friend, hell she did not even know if they were still friends, but she figured that if they still were at the time there was no way they still would be once she saw her and Lucas together. She realised that she was driving herself crazy imagining worst cases scenarios and that she might as well get it over with and tell Brooke before they got to school and Brooke sees her and Lucas together. She took her bag and exited her room ready to confront Brooke and almost had an heart attack when she closed her front door and found Lucas sitting on the porch.

-"Lucas, you scared me."

-Lucas obviously hadn't expected her to be standing there because he jumped up when he heard her speak.

-"Oh! I'm sorry. I, I needed to get out and it was early and I…" Lucas stammered. Obviously something had happened, he looked distraught. Peyton sat beside him and took hold of his hand.

-"What's wrong?" She asked, and for a moment she was worried that maybe he had changed his mind about them, but she was reassured when Lucas solidified his hold on her hand.

-"I'm sorry, it's early. Did I wake you? I didn't know if it was okay or not for me to come here, you know since we got together only yesterday and all. I" He spoke really fast, which made Peyton concerned.

-"Lucas, calm down okay." She caressed his cheek with the hand that wasn't busy holding his.

-"I'm glad you came. It doesn't matter that we just got together, if you need me I'm there no matter what time it is okay." She reassured him.

-"Okay, thanks." He gave her a small smile.

-"Good, so want to tell me what's wrong." She asked and watched his smile fade.

-Lucas took a couple seconds to figure out what to say next.

-"Peyt, you know I'm serious about us right, that it's not just a phase or something. You know that right?" He asked her nervously.

-"Luke, what is this about." She was confused.

-"Just answer the question alright." He asked more seriously.

-"Hum okay. At first I wasn't sure, but then you explained that it hadn't come out of nowhere but that it was something that you've pretended wasn't there before, and I believed you."

-"You know I wouldn't play with your heart like that right?" He still seemed upset as he asked her.

-"Of course I know that. You would never do that. Want to know what makes me so sure about that, other than the fact that I know you, I felt it, just like I feel it now. In the way you look at me, the way you touch me, when you kiss me. I know it in my heart Luke, that you love me just as much as I love you." She finished with tears in her eyes.

-He looked up at her and felt this incredible urge to kiss her, so he did. He gently took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers. Peyton reacted immediately, deepening the kiss, she couldn't help it, she loved kissing him.

-When the two broke apart for air, Peyton asked once more.

-"So, want to tell me what happened?" She smiled at him.

-"I thought maybe you'd forgot."

-"Sorry. You're a good kisser, but not that good." She joked.

-"I should be offended." Lucas feigned hurt.

-"Luke, come on." She pressed on.

-Lucas sighed. "I told my mom about us, and well, let's just say it didn't end well."

-Peyton sighed, it was obvious that Karen had told Lucas she did not approve of the relationship, which is probably what led to the fight.

-"Oh", she didn't know what to say, what was she suppose to say.

-Lucas seeing her discomfort realised that she must have misinterpreted the situation.

-"No, it's not what you think. She questioned my motives for being with you and it made me angry so I walked out, but then I started to wonder if maybe you felt the same, and I needed to know so I came here, but I didn't know if it was too early so I decided to wait a little and I got carried away I guess." He explained.

-"Well now you know, I don't feel the same. The only thing that really matters Luke is that you and I we know. The rest of the world I couldn't care less about. Sure it would be great for your mom to understand, but ultimately it doesn't matter." She finished taking hold of his hands to emphasize her point.

-Lucas looked into her eyes and he realised that she was right. It did not matter what his mom thought or what Brooke thought, or the rest of the school for that matter, all that mattered was that him and Peyton knew the truth.

-"You're right, Thanks." He smiled before once again taking her lips and Peyton gladly returned the kiss.

-A little while later, as the two sat close together on Peyton's porch, Lucas looked at his watch.

-"It's still pretty early for school. By the way, if you didn't saw me sitting here than why were you leaving so early?"

-Peyton froze for a moment, she had been so caught up in the moment with Lucas that she had completely forgot about talking to Brooke.

-"Oh! Well actually I was going to go see Brooke. I thought she should learn about us from me first, instead of at school, you know so that it's not in front of everybody."

-"Oh! It's probably a good idea. Want me to go with you?" He had completely forgot about Brooke. Peyton was right it was probably better for her to know before everybody else.

-"Hum, I don't think that it's such a good idea. As much as I would like you to be there, I need to do this on my own."

-"Yeah, but I could drive you and wait in the car." Lucas remembered that he had promised Peyton that he would do anything to help her and Brooke through this and he wanted to be there for Peyton if things went worst then expected.

-Peyton considered it, "Okay, but no matter how much yelling you hear you stay out of it okay."

-"Yeah, but I don't think it's fair, I mean it's all my fault."

-"No it's not. I had been denying my feelings for you too, so technically I'm as guilty as you are. I just hope that at some point she gets over it." She said sadly.

-"Yeah me too. So, ready to go?" He asked as he once again took hold of her hand.

-"Yeah, I have to do this. Come on, let's go." She got up and followed Lucas to his car and they drove to Nathan and Haley's apartment.


	8. Chapter 8

-Lucas and Peyton were in Lucas' car, parked in front of Nathan and Haley's apartment waiting for Peyton to gather the courage to go in. It wasn't that she was unsure or anything about her feelings for Lucas, but it was just hard for her knowing that what she was going to say was going to hurt her best friend.

-"I can walk you to the door if it helps." Lucas suggested seeing that Peyton hadn't made a move to leave the car in a while.

-"Humm, yeah thanks." She agreed, but she didn't move until she saw that Lucas was holding her door open for her and she saw him offering her his hand. She took it and felt him give her hand a reassuring squeeze before she got out of the car and followed him.

-"I'll be right outside the door if you need me." He said reassuringly as the two of them slowly made their way to the front door.

-"Yeah?" She said strengthening her hold on his hand.It helped so much to know that he was here, that he was going to be there for her if she needed it.

-"Yeah, and I can even go in with you if you want." He offered seeing her hesitation as they stood in front of the door.

-"Thanks, but I need to do this." She decided finally gathering the strength to knock on the door. She was doing this for her, for them, her and Lucas, they deserved this. She only hoped that it would be over quick.

-She held her breath when the door opened but released it with a sigh when she saw Nathan standing in the opening.

-He looked at her and then at Lucas and finally his eyes fell on their joined hands. A huge grin appeared on his face.

-"Oh my god, you guys are finally together, that's freaking awesome." He murmured happily, he didn't want the girls, who were in the kitchen, to hear him, that would bring a whole lot of awkwardness.

-"Hum thanks." Peyton said nervously a little thrown off by his enthusiasm. "Is Brooke here?"

-"Oh, you're here to tell her. Yeah, she's here, but do you want a mouth guard or something, because she's going to be pissed." He said trying to joke, he could see the blowout happening alrealy and he was trying to lighten the mood.

-"Yeah, I know." Peyton said sombrely, she then turned to Lucas, "I'll be right back."

-He nodded, letting go of her hand and sweetly pressed his lips to her temple. "I'm right here."

-"I know." She gave him a small smile before entering the apartment.

-Nathan gave her a supporting smile before exiting the apartment and closing the door, but not completely, he wanted to be able to hear if things got out of control, like he expected they would. After all it was Tree Hill, things never went smoothly here. He sat on the porch with his brother.

-"So, you happy?" He asked the obvious question.

-"Yeah." Lucas grinned, "For the first time in a while, yeah I am."

-"Good, the brooding was starting to be a little depressing." He joked, patting his brother on the back. It was good to see him smiling again. "You and Peyton go well together."

-"Yeah, I know." Lucas agreed as the two brother sat there talking quietly, waiting for either Peyton to come back out or for things to go wrong and them to go back in.

-Meanwhile, Peyton was making her way in the apartment and found Haley and Brooke in the kitchen. When she noticed her, Haley said hi, motioning for her to come in, which alerted Brooke to the blonde's presence. Brooke sent her a murderous glare.

-"What are you doing here?"She said accusingly. The girl had some nerve showing up here after everything she'd done.

-"I'm great, thanks for asking by the way." Peyton said sarcastically. She had told herself that she was going to be patient with her friend, but the girl was making it hard. Something about the way she was looking at her made Peyton want to piss her off more, she couldn't help it, but still she needed to fight through it, she wasn't really in shape for a chick fight anyway.

-"What do you want?" Brooke looked at her with disdain.

-"We need to talk." Peyton answered seriously, the bitchiness gone from her tone.

-"No we don't. We've already established that you're a backstabbing whore, there's nothing else to talk about." Brooke spat at her.

-"You know what Brooke, screw you." And there, just like that it was back. Gathering control of her anger she continued. "I know that you're probably hurting a lot right now, but I've done nothing to deserve that, so just shut the hell up."It was true, she truly felt bad about this, but she had done nothing for her friend to call her all of those things.

-She didn't even see it coming. Brooke's hand collided with the side of her face before Peyton could even realise what was going on.

-"GET THE HELL OUT PEYTON." Brooke yelled at her, now inches away from her face.

-"No" Peyton said determinedly. "I'm not leaving until I tell you what I've come here to tell you."There was no way she was backing down now, she needed to do this.

-"Too bad, I don't want to hear it." Brooke said refusing to back away.

-"I know." Peyton said, her voice now a little sad at what she was about to say and the effect it was obviously going to have on her bestfriend, "but here it is. I love him, I love Lucas, and him and I are together." Peyton spoke looking Brooke right in the eye, she wasn't ashamed of this and Brooke needed to understand at least that, if nothing else.

-The two of them were too close from one another for Peyton to see all of Brooke, so once again Peyton never saw it coming, but this time it was Brooke's fist that collided with her cheek. Peyton had to admit that Brooke hit harder than she had expected.

-She stumbled backward and cradled her cheek with her hand as tears started to fall.

-Before any of them could say anything else, the boys who had heard the commotion barged in. Lucas ran to Peyton's side and lifted her chin with his fingers looking at her face for any signs of injury. When he saw that she was fine except from a bruised cheek, he dried her tears with his thumbs and wrapped a protective arm around her.

-"Look people, it's Lucas the hero coming to the rescue." Brooke spat, angry at the affection in Lucas gestures and the way he was holding Peyton.

-"What the hell is wrong with you?" Lucas yelled at Brooke who Nathan had forcefully dragged a few feet away from the couple.

-"GET OUT" Was her only answer as Nathan was still holding her by the waist to stop her from going at Peyton again.

-"Gladly. Come on Peyton let's get out of here." He told the blonde who seemed to be in a trance since Brooke hit her.

-Hearing Lucas speak to her tore her out of it though. She looked up at him and then at Brooke.

-"I can't believe you hit me." She said incredulous.

-"You deserved it." Brooke angrily answered.

-"The hell I did."

-"You stole my boyfriend and then you have the guts to come here to brag about it. You're lucky if I don't hit you again." Brooke said sending Peyton a threatening glare as Nathan solidified his hold on her waist to keep her in place.

-"Get over yourself. I didn't steal him Brooke, you guys were broken up and beside, the only reason I'm here is because I thought you should hear it from me, I'm not here to brag." Peyton tried to rationalize with her, but it obviously wasn't working too well for her. It shouldn't have surprised her though, Brooke had never really been the rational one.

-"Keep telling yourself that Peyton, but we all know that if it wasn't for you, Lucas and I would still be together. You took him from me bitch." Brooke spat at her, but before Peyton could say anything, Lucas stepped in.

-"Don't talk to her like that." He warned. He knew he deserved for her to be angry at him, but he couldn't tolerate the words that were coming out of her mouth now, not when they were about Peyton.

-"Oh, isn't it cute. Saint Lucas to the rescue once again."

-"You know what, fine let's do this. Let's get everything in the open right now, but just so you know I was hoping to avoid that, but you're asking for it."Lucas had hoped to avoid this, to avoid hurting her more than he already had, but he couldn't control it anymore. All the anger that he had kept inside for so long, it was all coming out on Brooke.

-Brooke scuffed at him, but listened nonetheless as he spoke again.

-"You're right Brooke. It is because of Peyton if you and I are broken up, but it's not her fault, it's mine. So you want to hit someone, hit me, leave her alone." He warned once again.

-"So you want me to believe that she did nothing to get you back." She scoffed at Peyton, "Right."

-Lucas strengthened his hold on Peyton's hand sensing that she was about to jump at Brooke's throat.

-"You know what Brooke. Here's the truth. Peyton never made a move on me, because believe me when I say this, if she had, you and I would have been history way before now. I've been pretending not to have feelings for her for so long, it was only a question of time before the feelings got out and her making a move on me would have done that just fine. But in the end, you're the one that asked me to look into my heart to find what was really in there. You had to know that there was a chance that this would happen. It was always what you were worried about right? The reason why you were always so insecure about me spending time with her, and in a way I guess that in the end you were right." He took a breath, realization dawning on him, "You know what, I think that somehow you knew from the beginning that my heart was with her, but that like me you pretended that it wasn't there because it was what you wanted too, and now you're angry because you can't pretend anymore, it's all out in the open and you have to deal with it like all of us."

-His expression then softened a little. "I'm sorry Brooke, I'm sorry that I hurt you, I really am, but Peyton's only trying to follow her heart, don't blame her for that." He pleaded with his ex girlfriend.

-"Yeah, I should be happy for you, right" She scoffed again.

-"You know what. Why not?" It was Peyton who spoke.

-"For over a year now, I've denied the way I feel about Lucas because I didn't want to hurt you. I let you have him last year, even though seeing you two together almost killed me, and I gave him up later because I didn't want to loose you. I did that even though I was finally happy for the first time in a long time." Peyton breathed deeply before continuing.

-"I've put your happiness ahead of mine for years now, but now I'm done. I'm going to be happy, so you have two choices here. You can either put my happiness first for once and try to get over it, or you can keep acting like that and loose me. I'm done sacrificing everything for you, it's not worth it. Come on Luke, let's get out of here." She said turning to her boyfriend and leading him out the door, leaving a stunned Brooke behind.


	9. Chapter 9

-Once they were safely in the car Lucas turned to Peyton worryingly.

-"You okay?"

-"You weren't suppose to get involve Luke!" She said exasperated.

-"I know okay, but I heard the shouting and then the clash and I, I thought that you might have gotten hurt or something."

-"I'm fine Luke." She knows he was only trying to help, but she's pissed and right now he's the only one who's there.

-"Yeah but you could have not been fine. I can't just stand by and watch you get hurt Peyt, okay I just can't. That's not who I am. Beside I could have never lived with myself if something would have happened to you."

-"It was Brooke Luke, not some psycho, she wouldn't have hurt me."

-"But he did." He says impulsively and then stops abruptly as he realises what he has just said.

-Peyton froze, that was the last thing she had expected. One second they were talking about Brooke and the next they weren't.

-"Luke," she tried to get him to look at her but he's looking right ahead, concentrating on the road.

-"Luke, look at me." She tried again, all her previous anger at him walking in gone completely and replaced by concern for him.

-"We're almost at school." He said once again without looking at her.

-The second they stop in the school parking lot, her hand is on his stopping him from walking out of the car.

-"Luke."

-"It's nothing okay. You were right. I told you I was going to stay out of it, I should have stayed outside. I'm sorry."

-"I don't care about that. I just want to know why you said that."

-He's looking straight ahead, fixing a far away point.

-"Luke." She tries again but no change. Finally she has had enough. Forcefully, she reaches out and grab his face with both of her hands, forcing him to look at her.

-"Peyt." He pleads.

-"Tell me." Her eyes are boring into his, somehow trying to find the answer in his soul.

-He evades her grasp and looks out the window.

-"I keep seeing it." He starts, looking through the window, away from her.

-"Keep seeing what Luke?" She asks quietly, happy that he's finally opening up but at the same time dreading his answer.

-"You. Each time I close my eyes I see it. I see you sitting there in pain, blood pouring out of your leg. I came in too late Peyt, and because of that you got hurt and I'm terrified that it's going to happen again."

-"Luke." She's speechless. She has no idea what to do to help him but she knows that she needs for him to look at her.

-"When I heard the clash, my mind flashed to that place again and I couldn't not do anything. I was terrified that I was going to be too late again. That can't happen again Peyt, I can't loose you too, not after…" He finishes with tears in his eyes. She can't see them since he won't look at her but she knows they're there.

-"Lucas." She reaches for one of his hand. "Lucas look at me, please."

-She's convinced that she's not getting through until he finally, slowly, turns to look at her and like she expected, he's got tears in his eyes and she feels guilty. She feels guilty for not having realised that some of the pain he had been carrying around since that day was about something other than his uncle's death.

-"You saved my life Luke."

-He's about to object when she continues.

-"It doesn't matter when you showed. The only thing that matters is that you did. You couldn't have stopped him from shooting me Luke, you're not Superman."

-"But I could…"

-"Don't. Don't do this. It happened, it's in the past now. There's nothing that you can do about that, you can't go back and changed it. I got hurt yeah, but I didn't die, and that's all because of you. I appreciate you wanting to keep me safe, really I do, and I love you for that. But you can't keep me in a bubble Luke."

-"Why not? I think I could enjoy that." He smirks and she's elated. He's smiling, she's getting somewhere.

-"Yeah?" She flirts. Mostly to relieve the tension but also because she loves it. She loves that now she can do things like that with him whenever she wants.

-"Definitely." He flirts back, scanning her body as he speaks. He grins when he sees her blush under his scrutiny.

-"Luke." She wants to keep talking about what happened. She knows that she's not going to be able to trust herself much longer if he keeps looking at her like that.

-"Yeah?" He grinned somehow knowing exactly what she's thinking.

-"We weren't done talking about…"

-"I know. But that was fun." She shots him a look. "Okay. Look, I'm scared. I'm scared of something happening to you. And I'm probably going to be scared for awhile. I know that I can't keep you in a bubble, as fun as that sound, but could you just maybe, you know, just for a little while…"

-"Let you play bodyguard." She tries, really she does, but there's just no way she can keep the flirting out of her voice.

-He blushes at her insinuation and then laugh nervously as the way she looks at him reaches parts of him that shouldn't be reached in the school parking lot.

-His eyes darken and her breath catches in her throat. God she loves when he looks at her like that.

"How much body are we talking about here?" His lustful eyes scanning her up and down as his hands reach for her waist, pulling her to him.

-She tries to come up with something to say, anything, but the way he looks at her and his hands on her are too much and she determines that they definitively can finish this conversation later.

-Pushing everything else but the feeling of him out of her mind she eagerly catches his lips with hers.

-Instantly he kisses her back, tracing her bottom lip with his tongue, begging for entrance that she willingly grants. He reaches one hand to the back of her neck, angling her head to give him better access, his hand then moving into her hair as his other hand is busy caressing her naked thighs under her skirt.

-His lips then move from her mouth, descending on her neck and gently sucking on her pulse point, beaming at the realization of just how fast her heart his beating, even though he knows for sure that his is beating just as fast. He feels her fingers on his clothed chest and can feel the heat through the thin fragment as he hears her moans in his ear.

-"Luke." She protests weakly, some part of her faintly aware of their surrendering, but before she can protest again his lips are back on hers, his tongue in her mouth doing nothing to calm her raging hormones, and she stops protesting altogether, giving into the feeling of him.

-"Taptaptap."

-They spring apart at the sound of someone knocking on the window, but it's too late the offender has already seen all that there was too see. Peyton blushes profusely before rolling down the window, wishing to God that Haley hasn't seen too much.

-Nathan laugh out loud at the expression on Haley's face. Poor girl had wanted to say hi to her friends and ran out to the car before he could even suggest that maybe it wasn't a good idea and apparently she stumbled on something because as he finally reaches them Haley is stunned into silence while the two blondes look mortified.

-"So, you two getting cozy?" He smirks at the blushing blondes in the car.

-"Huh no, not at all. We were just talking." Lucas tries to argue, but it's the farthest thing from convincing.

-"Really? But Luke, isn't your hand a little high on her thigh for 'just talking'" He makes the quote signs with his fingers as Lucas dashes his hand away from Peyton's leg while she blushed even more and pulls her skirt back to its normal length.

-"Nathan," Haley squeals horrified.

-"What? I think it's funny that if you hadn't interrupted them, they would have probably gone R rated right in the school parking lot."

-Three identical sets of bewildered eyes flew in his direction.

-"We weren't…" Peyton tries to argue.

-"Of course you weren't honey." Nathan says in a faked condescending tone, that makes her glare at him again.

"Why are you guys here by the way?" Lucas asks trying to change the subject before Peyton rips Nathan a new one.

-"It's school, and it's school time. What did you guys think it was, Lover's Lane?" He smirked.

-"I meant what are you doing here, here. As in next to my car." Lucas asks again, ignoring Nathan's jibe.

-"Haley wanted to speak to Peyton. I tried to warn her about possibly finding this" He motioned between the two of them, "But she was gone before I could finish. That's too bad." He says in mocked deception as Lucas and Peyton finally walk out of the car to meet their friends outside.

-"Shut up Nathan. What's up Hales?" Peyton asked her friend.

-"Just wanted to talk, that's all." Haley answers, too embarrass to look Peyton in the eye.

-"Alright, let's talk then." She looks back at Luke. "I'll see you later."

-"Definitely." He leans down and brushes his lips to hers.

-"Do you guys need us to clear the perimeter or something?" Nathan joked.

-Lucas and Peyton broke the kiss and Peyton glared at Nathan. "Shut it perv. Now come on Hales." She pecked Lucas on the lips and then linked her arm with Haley.

-Nathan looked back at Luke with a huge grin on his face.

-"Someone was about to get lucky apparently. Lucky bastard."

-Lucas simply rolled his eyes at his brother and started to walk toward the school, with Nathan jogging to catch up to him.


	10. Chapter 10

-"So, about this morning…" Haley started awkwardly.

-"Yeah. Sorry you had to see that." Peyton answered embarrassed.

-"Huh no! Not that. I'm talking about that thing with Brooke." Haley clarified, muffling an embarrassed laugh herself.

-"Oh that."

-"Yeah. Look I'm really sorry I didn't do anything. I just thought that it was something that was between the two of you. I didn't want to butt in you know."

-"I thought it was what you lived for." Peyton joked.

-"Funny."

-"It's fine Hales. I'm not angry with you."

-"Yeah, but I haven't really been a good friend to you lately. The last couple of days, I should have went to check on you but…"

-"You've been busy with Brooke. It's fine Haley, I get it."

-"I should have been there for you too but I wasn't and I'm sorry." Haley said with a sad expression.

-"Hey, it's fine. I would have probably shut you out anyway, told you that I wanted to be on my own. It's no big deal. Everything turned out great." She smiled at the thought of her and Lucas finally being together.

-"Yeah. So you and Luke?" Haley started, trying to subtlety bring the subject into the conversation.

-"Me and Luke what?" Peyton asked not knowing what the brunette was talking about.

-"You guys really together?"

-"Yes Hales we are. That all you wanted to know?" Peyton smiled, but it quickly faded when she saw the look on her friend's face.

-"What? You're not happy about that?" She asked suspiciously.

-"No. Of course I'm happy for you guys. I just… Lucas' been through a lot lately and I just want to make sure that you're serious about this because I really don't think that he could handle getting his heart broken right now."

-"Don't you think I know that Hales?" Peyton argued exasperated.

-"You do?"

-"Of course I do. But it's a big deal for me too you know. And beside, the last time we tried this I got my heart broken too. Believe me, I know very well how big of a deal it is, for both of us. I don't want to get hurt either. That's one of the reason why it took me so long to make up my mind. I had a lot to loose too Hales. In fact I already lost Brooke. Believe me I know that we could both get our hearts broken again, but it's a risk that I'm willing to take and so is he."

-"So you love him?"

-Peyton glared at her.

-"How can you even ask me that?"

-"Peyt!"

-"Of course I love him. I'm completely in love with him, that was never a question in my mind." Peyton sighed. She was getting tired of this conversation.

-"So the reason why nothing happened before…"

-"Look Haley it's complicated okay and not any of your business but just know that my feelings for Lucas have always been there, I just always refused to acknoledge them because of Brooke and so many other reasons. But when Lucas told me how he felt, I just couldn't do that anymore. I just needed to figure out if they were worth the risk, if we were."

-"And you are?"

-Peyton narrowed her eyes at her.

-"Okay, good to know. Look I'm sorry about this it's just…" She tried to apologize but Peyton interrupted her.

-"He's your best friend and you don't want him to get hurt, I get it. Believe me, I want the same thing, for both of us." Peyton admitted.

-"Than all I got left to say is congrats. I'm happy for you guys. You've waited long enough." Haley hugged her.

-"You sure?" Peyton asked pulling back.

-"Yeah. You guys are perfect for each other. Tortured artist meets tortured athlete, it's a match made in heaven." She laughed and Peyton joined her.

-"Thanks Hales."

-"No problem. So, about this morning…" Haley started with a smirk.

-"That thing with Brooke?" Peyton asked, confused about why they were still talking about that.

-"No, you and Lucas getting your mack on in the school parking lot." She smiled when she saw Peyton blush.

-"So, should I start walking around with a bell or something so that I don't walk in on you and my best friend having sex. I think I'd probably be scared for life."

-"We weren't…" Peyton started to deny.

-"Sure you weren't." Haley said sarcastically.

-"Okay fine. We got carried away a little." Peyton conceded.

-"A little? Nathan was right. We were minutes away from walking in on some serious action."

-"Hales!!!!!!" Peyton admonished.

-"What? It's not my fault. I spend too much time with Nathan. It rubs off." Haley smiled and with that the bell rang and the two of them were off to class.

-Peyton was at her locker in between classes when she felt two strong arms wrap around her waist.

-"Hey." She smiled, knowing exactly who it was.

-"Hey." He kissed her cheek. "I'm so glad to finally be able to do that." He rested his chin on her shoulder. "So, how was your morning?" He asked into her neck making her shiver.

-"Great now. How was yours?" She asked turning her head slightly so that she could see him.

-"Terribly long." He sighed before taking her lips with his hungrily. He had been waiting to do that all morning and apparently so had she because she responded to the kiss with as much fervor.

-"I should really think about getting that bell."

-They pulled apart slightly to find Haley standing in front of them with her hand in front of her eyes in mocked disgust.

-"Hey Hales." Lucas smiled as they turned to face their friend and Lucas once again wrapped his arms around Peyton who laid her back against his chest.

-"What's that I hear about a bell?" He asked realizing that he had no idea what Haley had been talking about.

-"Nothing." Peyton answered quickly. Lucas looked questionably down at her and Haley laughed out loud as Nathan walked up to them.

-"Hey guys. What's up?" He asked.

-"Not much. I was just telling Lucas here that I was thinking about walking around with a bell so that I don't walk in on them making out, or worst."

-"A bell hein." Lucas looked down at Peyton and then smirked.

-"Not such a bad idea. You should really do it." He laughed at Haley's expression. Obviously she hadn't expected this kind of answer.

-"So you guys have been getting cozy from what I gathered." Nathan grinned.

-"What can I say, she's irresistible." Lucas quipped, pressing a kiss to Peyton's neck as she blushed.

-"So you guys still going strong?" Nathan asked.

-"It's only been a day, why wouldn't we be?" Lucas asked confused.

-"Well you never know with you two. I was just making sure."

-"It's different this time." Lucas argued.

-"Good, cause we've all had enough of all your drama and broodiness."

-"Hey!" Both Lucas and Peyton objected at once and the other two laughed.

-"So Luke, could I talk to you for a minute?" Haley asked suddenly.

-Lucas looked from Haley to Peyton who seeing his hesitation nodded.

-"Go, I'll hang out with Nathan here." She pointed to his brother.

-"You sure?"

-"Yeah she's sure, now go." Nathan grinned at how whipped his brother already was.

-Lucas turned her chin toward him and pressed his lips to hers. Peyton deepened the kiss and soon enough the two of them were once again in a full-on make out session.

-Nathan and Haley looked at each other and burst out laughing.

-Haley coughed loudly. "Hey, we're still here you know."

-They pulled apart embarrassed and Lucas slowly released his hold on Peyton.

-"You should really think about getting that bell Hales." Nathan joked.


	11. Chapter 11

-"So what's up Hales?" The two of them had been walking around the school's hallways for a few minutes now and Haley hadn't started talking yet.

-"I just wanted to apologize for the way I went off on you, it wasn't fair. I was so concerned about Brooke's pain that I didn't even think about what you were going through. Also, I haven't really been there for you in the last few weeks and I'm sorry. I'm not going to let you down again, I promise."

-"It's alright Hales, I get it.. I'm not angry with you."

-"Still, I won't disappoint you again."

-"It's fine Haley. Is that what you were worried about?"

-"Yeah. I didn't want you to think that I wasn't happy about you and Peyton because I am. I'm thrilled that you two finally found each other and I'm sure that you'll make it work. I wanted you to know that."

-"Thanks, that means a lot Hales." He moved in and gave her a hug before pulling back as the two of them started walking again.

-"Sure, so what's wrong?" She stopped looking at him questionably.

-"What?" He was confused, had no idea what she was talking about.

-"You have this look."

-"What look?"

-"The 'I'm pissed but I won't tell you why' look. What's up?" She crossed her arms over her chest, eyeing him.

-"How do you know that I have a look?"

-"I've known you for over ten years Luke. Now fess up."

-"I had a fight with my mom this morning." He volunteered.

-"About what?"

-"Peyton. Well me and Peyton to be exact."

-"What, your mom doesn't think that you two should be together?"

-"Nope. Actually, she's implying that I'm with Peyton to get over Brooke." His voice was cold, distant.

-"Luke, she wouldn't. Maybe you misinterpreted what she said."

-"There was no misunderstanding what she said Hales. My mom thinks that I'd use Peyton like that simply to make myself feel better."

-"You'd never do that Luke, we all know that." Haley tried to reassure her friend, to her it seemed really weird that Karen could say something like that to her son. It was so unlike her.

-"Apparently my mom doesn't."

-"Luke you should talk to her, try to clear things up."

-"Why?"

-"Luke, she's your mother."

-"What's your point? I didn't do anything wrong Hales. It's not me who should apologize here."

-"Luke if your mom doesn't know where you're coming from, it's hard to understand why you dumped Brooke and then a few days later start dating Peyton. You should at least explain, give her a chance to understand, if she doesn't change her mind afterward, then you'll have every right to be angry."

-"Fine, I'll try talking to her. Are you happy?"

-"Very. Now come on, let's go see your girlfriend before you go gaga on me" She smirked at Lucas' expression.

-"I'm not going gaga." He argued and Haley rolled her eyes.

-"Sure, you've only been looking around searching for a fly on the wall." She joked, enjoying her friend blushing.

-"I wasn't looking for Peyton." He denied once again.

-"You weren't."

-He spun back to see his girlfriend and brother coming from the hallway where their lockers were.

-"Hi!" He moved in, wrapping his arms around her body.

-"Hi! So you weren't looking for me?" She smiled coyly.

-"I… I was hoping to find you. I just…"

-"I knew it. You are so going gaga."

-"That was what I was trying to avoid." He smirked at Haley who had this self-satisfied look on her face.

-"I can see why. So, walk me to class?" Peyton laughed at the two friends.

-"Sure." She agreed and he grabbed her hand, the two of them walking away.

-"You are so whipped man." Nathan laughed and Lucas rolled his eyes.

-"Oh shut up. You guys are so lame." He looked back at his brother and Haley who were both looking at the two of them with smirks on their faces.

* * *

-At the end of the day, Lucas dropped Peyton off at her house, telling her that eh was going to try to talk to his mom and then come back to see her.

-Peyton hadn't argued or told him that she wanted to come and he was thankful for that. She knew that he'd rather have this conversation with his mom on his own and respected that. She trusted him, she knew that whatever happened he was going to talk to her about it.

-He walked into the café, convincing himself that whatever was going to happen he was going to keep his cool, he wasn't going to go off on her. That was particularly hard though as she walked in, and stepped toward him quickly.

-"Hi Lucas! I…"

-"Can we talk?" He spoke calmly.

-"Lucas…"

-"Not here. Can we go in the back?"

-"Sure."

-They both walked to the back of the café and Karen sat down, Lucas though started pacing.

-"I wasn't happy mom."

-"Lucas, I…"

-"Let me talk alright."

-"Okay. I just want you to know that I'm sorry I offended you. I was just trying to help."

-"Didn't you hear me mom? I said that I wasn't happy. Not only since that day but since before that. I haven't been happy in a long time and I didn't know why."

-"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

-"In a sense I didn't know either. I thought that I wanted Brooke, I really did, and for the longest time that was what I convinced myself of but I was a horrible boyfriend to her mom. She offered me her heart but I never gave her mine. I never really let her in and that ended up hurting her."

-"A few days ago, she got angry with me and asked me to figure out why I wasn't letting her into my heart so I thought about it. I thought about it and I started thinking about that day, you know the school shooting.. Thinking about that, it made me realise how terrified I was when I found out that Peyton was hurt. I wasn't able to breath freely until I knew for sure that she was going to be okay. That's not a normal feeling for a friend mom. If Peyton hadn't been to me anything more that a friend, I wouldn't have felt like my world was crumbling around me at the thought that I could possibly loose her."

-"That's why I broke up with Brooke, mom. I realised that I'd been lying to myself. I made myself believe that I was in love with Brooke because it was easy. Loving Peyton, it's scary, and last time I gave into those feelings, I got burned pretty bad. I guess I was just scared to admit those feelings so that I wouldn't hurt like that again but I realised that I was only hiding. I hid from the truth and still I wasn't happy, I needed to do something about it. Realising that I had those feelings for Peyton, I decided that maybe if I was finally honest with myself than I could be happy again and it's working. I feel better than I have in months mom."

-"I love Peyton and I won't deny it again mom. I just hope that you can understand that and be supportive." Karen was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again.

-"I'm sorry I judged too quickly Luke. You were right, I had no business saying those things to you without knowing what was going on in your head. It won't happen again. I promise."

-"Thank you mom." He replied thankful.

-"I really am sorry. So what about I make up for my bad behaviour from this morning by inviting Peyton over for dinner. I could get to see the two of you together and I would really like that. Thank her for making my boy happy again."

-"I don't know mom, I mean…"

-"Please Luke. I really want to make things right with the two of you. Give me a chance please.."

-"Okay. I'll ask Peyton, see if she wants to come over. I'll see you later" And with that, he gave her a quick hug and left the café for his girlfriend's house, happy that he had worked things out with his mother.


End file.
